Violation of Copyright

I am a new business owner trying to grow my business. I sent approx. 800 ecards to fellow Alumni informing them about my business and asking for referrals. I rec'd a certified letter from the CD creator stating I'm in direct violation of their copyright and subject to civil suit in fed and/or state court.

I sent 1 email, not multiple emails. I don't know what I did wrong because I receive info in the US mail and emails regularly asking for business. I did not know I was breaking the law. Can you please shed some light on what I did wrong? Thanks

Publish Emails

Hi, I am writing a loose autobiographical piece, and wish to include email correspondences sent to me from another. Is this legal without that persons consent.

electronic library

Is it legal to download an article from the www (after googling and finding reserach) to put in an electronic library repository for reserachers to use when they reserach their project if you just list the URL? If not what do you need to have, I have 100 documents at least

Intellectual Property Rights

I have worked for a company for eleven years and am currently working on a book about my time spent there. While the story is mostly lighthearted and comical in nature, the name of the company is used in my book.

My question for you is - Do I violate the company's intellectual property rights by using its name in my book. I know that the First Amendment protects my rights to tell my story ... BUT ... I also realize that there could be consequences for doing so. After all, I don't have a stock price to worry about.

I have researched the topic and found no cases where a company sued an employee for writing a book. I realize that the company would be more likely to sue a publisher before taking little ol' me to court and risking the publicity. But if I were to self-publish and self-promote, it could be a risk worth taking. And no one but myself could be held liable.

Here's another question for you - If I don't sell it for profit, but publish it online for readers to view it free of charge, would I still violate their intellectual property rights?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

John

Purchasing a domain name

Is it ''illegal'' to purchase a domain name associated with the company you work for (e.g. product line that is about to launch)?

portfolio

If you are a designer. Employed by a company. Leave that company. Start your own company. Can you use the projects you designed while employeed by another company in your companies ''portfolio'' as work you have done?

question on copyrighting the title of my book or DVD

I am going to be coming out with some information products and had a question on copyrighting the title of my book or DVD.

i.e. You have all heard of a book called ''Think and Grow Rich''

Can I create a book titled Build and Grow Rich'' and not get sued.

Another example is a DVD video called ''Stomping the Search Engines''

Can I create a DVD called ''Squashing the Search Engines''

Would either of these titles be in violation of the original copyright?....because I am only changing one word.

Any suggestions and answers are appreciated!

Making a replica nascar helmet

I want to sell replica nascar helmet but I dont want to run into any legal issue later on. What would be the legal way to do it?

Who actually owns the design of the helmet? The nascar driver? If I change the design of the helmet a little, would I be ok from being potentially caught for patent infridgement? Also, each helmet has logo of the sponsoring company. If I wanna make this legal, do I need to pay a licensing fee to the sponsoring company for putting their name on the helmet?

Thanks.

Crystal

Implied Copyright on my menu

I own a restaurant and had my restaurant menu stolen from me by my ex-spouse who is now opening up a restaurant near me with the same menu. Do I have legal recourse and standing?

Publishing a Book

When I interviewing parties for information to include in a book or other media form, is it appropriate to pay them for the interview? Do interviewees expect payment ?

Selecting an Intellectual Attorney

What should qualifications look for when selecting an intellectual property attorney?

Publishing and Author Rights

I am writing a nonfiction book about an event that happened in my life as a child, but I'm interviewing many people who may know more about the incident than I do. Do I need to have them sign a contract protecting my rights in creating the book and possible movie film or documentary?

Common Law Rights Versus Federal Trademark Rights

The outcome of a recent comprehensive trademark search uncovered a possible common law conflict that I am trying to get my arms around.

A product has been uncovered with the same name that I am trying to trademark. There is currently no protection in place for this product's name in any form to my knowledge. Everything checked out ok on the Federal and State search and I own all domain names related to the name. The product application is different and actually is for a veterinary product.

What are my chances of getting the application through the PTO office? Does a registered trademark trump a common law mark? Does it make any difference if I adjust the name ever so slightly?

Thank you in advance.

Educational Intellectual Property

I am a professor employed by an undergraduate college to teach social work. I would like to do research, get published, and provide services in the field of social work outside the scope of my employment for the school. What are the boundary lines for working on projects and services that I can retain intellectual property rights for, and projects and services that my school would have intellectual property rights over?

Infrigement to Use Fictional Logo from TV Show

There is a show on tv, and the characters work for a fictional company, and wear uniforms with the fictional company's logo. Would I be infringing any copyright or trademark laws in designing and selling shirts with the fictional company's logo on them?

Federal Trademarks in Nutritional Supplement Industry

I notice that there are several trademarks and applications utilizing common nomenclature such as liver, kidney, brain, etc. with some descriptive noun often times attached like shield, life, etc.

How are these viewed by the PTO and trademark authority? There are so many of them that it is difficult to determine which could cause potential problems.

Thank you.

vechile

i sold a car to a overseas(australia)_ buyer about 2 months ago and they havent picked up the car yet and finally the call today the pick up time was only 3 week of time and it went past that time and they paid for the car but never called or even emailed me i went down to the dmv and the told me the buyers have no rights to the car after the pick up time can i be suied for the money back

sold vechile

i sold my car to a buyer over seas (australia)_about two month ago and the havent picked up the car yet and now today the call are there any right i have to the car it been to months and i went to the dmv and they told me if they have not picked it up by the set date the vechile is considered mine

Pictures on MySpace

My ex-boyfriend posted pictures of me on his MySpace page. The pictures are not offensive, but I still do not want them on his page. He probably forgot about his MySpace account since he has not used it since December 06.

I don't want pictures of me on the internet because I don't want them to show up if someone (such as an employer or potential employer) enters my name in a search engine.

What do I have to do to get him to take my pictures down? I have not asked him to because I do not want to communicate with him. Is there another way?

Thanks.

Copyright of Ideas

I am starting a consultant business and have developed a quality assurance work process for insurance companies. I've also developed an anocronym for the pronciples opf this work process. Must I go through a formal process to copyright the acronym and the process or can I just state in promotional materials that it is copyrighted?